Todays readings: Numbers 1-2, Psalm 64 and Hebrews 11
How do you handle hard situations? Maybe you receive a bad report from your Dr? Perhaps you are struggling in your marriage or having conflict with a child? How do you deal with situations that are out of your control? When the world is a mess around us, how do you react? What do we do? How can we respond?
Hebrews 11 has the answer for us today…
BY FAITH
Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11:1-3
By faith Abel… by faith Enoch… by faith Noah… by faith Abraham… and by faith even Sarah…
Hebrews 11 is full of ordinary people who believed that God would do what he promised. That is why they are known as heroes of our faith.
I look at these stories about the lives of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah and feel like my life does not compare to theirs. I was not asked to do what they were asked. I feel less than them. But, how can we (you and I) become heroes of the faith?
BY FAITH
By Faith means believing that God loves us and wants the best for us. We have to hold an active confidence in God and know that He is the one who provides for us our daily bread. He is the only one who can satisfy our wants, needs and desires. By faith we believe that God is omniscient and omnipresent. He knows everything and He sees everything. He knows everything about us and He already knows what we are going to face in the future. He is greater than anything in this world.
By faith we can talk to God. We can pray and ask Him for wisdom, guidance, peace and direction in our lives. We can look to Him for strength to keep going. By faith we know that He will provide all we need in His time.
When we have doubts and questions, we need to read and meditate on Hebrews 11. We need the constant reminder of what God did for His people. They had faith that God would see them through and God did. By faith they carried on, even when it was hard and they could not see the outcome. Is that you today? I have a few things in my life right now that I cannot see the results and that can get me worried and frustrated. But I am told in this passage that BY FAITH, God will provide. My job is to keep believing and looking to Him.